Democrats Used Fairness Doctrine to ‘Challenge and Harass’ Conservative Opposition

Townhall.com ^ | 9/25/2012 | Fred Lucas

[TeaPartyJakes]

(The following is the third of three excerpts from The Right Frequency: The Story of the Talk Radio Giants Who Shook Up the Political and Media Establishment, by Fred Lucas; History Publishing Company. The adapted excerpt looks at the Fairness Doctrine.)

The Democratic National Committee, with the approval of President Lyndon B. Johnson engaged in an effort that eventually led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Fairness Doctrine. What would have been a major scandal had it been discovered, was revealed years later in former CBS News president Fred Friendly’s book “The Good Guys, the Bad Guys and the First Amendment.”

The DNC prepared a kit that it delivered to voters and activist explaining, “how to demand time under the Fairness Doctrine.” In 1964, Wayne Phillips, Director of News and Information for the DNC brought Fred J. Cook, a friend from his journalism days, into the fold to write a piece for The Nation magazine lashing out against conservative talk radio.

According to Friendly’s book, “Because of the close association of James Row with President Johnson and also because of John Bailey’s standing as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, there is little doubt that this contrived scheme had White House approval.”

Bill Ruder, an Assistant Secretary of Commerce in the Johnson administration recalled, “Our massive strategy was to use the Fairness Doctrine to challenge and harass right-wing broadcasters and hope that the challenge would be so costly to them that they would be inhibited and decide it was too expensive to continue.”

[winner3000]

Yet another reason why Ronald Reagan was a hero.

[winner3000]

Yet another reason why Ronald Reagan was a hero.

[SunkenCiv]

The Second Amendment follows right behind the First because some people are hard of hearing. Thanks TeaPartyJakes.

[Secret Agent Man]

I have the first Amendment that guarantees my certain God-given rights to assembly, speech and religion. And if people want to deprive me of those God-given rights, they are going to face my 2nd Amendment rights.

[DouglasKC]

I was always conservative but didn’t know what it was until the “fairness rule” (leftist tool) was struck down. I heard Rush one day and said “That’s me!!!”.